November 22, 2013

Articles Worth Reading: More on Ransomware

Recently, I wrote about being attacked by ransomware (see Business of Editing: URLs, Authors, & Viruses). It appears that the problem is getting worse. I thought you would be interested in this short Ars Technica article (and the comments that follow it):

The ransomware mentioned in the article is even more frightening (to me) than the ransomware I “caught,” and makes clear that it is more important than ever to regularly backup and image my hard drives.

Although the article is short, it is worth spending a few minutes to read. There are a lot of comments, but the first few are enough to emphasize the danger of ransomware and the need to be increasingly vigilant.

This is scary. I discussed this with my techie son, and he was surprised that you got caught by URLs in Word documents. He suggested that URLs be checked on a cheap laptop, possibly not Windows-based, rather than your usual working PC. That way you won’t infect your PC and even if you have to lose your laptop to the ransomware, replacing it is cheaper than the price the extortionists are demanding.

[…] of Editing: URLs, Authors, & Viruses.” A week later, I followed it up with “Articles Worth Reading: More on Ransomware.” And just a few weeks ago, I wrote “The Business of Editing: Playing It Safe” […]